workout
Americannoun
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workouts
plural
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a trial or practice session in athletics, as in running, boxing, or football.
-
a structured regime of physical exercise.
She goes to the gym for a workout twice a week.
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any trial or practice session.
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an act or instance of working something out.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of workout
First recorded in 1890–95; noun use of verb phrase work out
Explanation
A workout is an exercise session. If you hope to join your school's track team, you'd better be prepared for regular workouts. If you do yoga, lift weights, or run with your dog, you can call each of these activities a workout. When it's a verb, workout becomes two separate words: work out. So you can either say "I work out three days a week" or "I usually do three workouts a week." When this noun first appeared around the turn of the 20th century, it referred specifically to a practice boxing match.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He still regards workout time as nonnegotiable and incorporates it into his travel itineraries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
That level of participation suggests that a short, straightforward workout may be easier to incorporate into daily life than a longer exercise program.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
Endless workout videos making impossible promises filled her feeds.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
From pecs to decks, students in Nottingham are trying a new workout that turns a gym into a club night.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Everyone is toned, tanned, bleached, and in matching workout gear.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
Amid questions over his age, he boasted while campaigning that he was "fitter than ever", jogging during events and posting videos on social media of his gym workouts.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
Since then, she had focused on exercising through activities such as gym workouts and running, as well as going to therapy to improve her wellbeing, she added.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
For some, meeting a weekly exercise target means taking long walks or completing challenging workouts on Saturday and Sunday.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
The difference, Roberts said, is how encouraged the manager was by Freeman’s workouts this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
They took to huddling on the float before and after workouts, talking about what, precisely, they could do to make each row better than the one before, looking one another in the eye, speaking earnestly.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
